It’s never easy to be the youngest of five children. You tend to get lost at the dinner table. Forget about ever seeing the television remote. More than likely, there have had to be hand-me-down clothes along the way.

It should be even tougher when you’re the youngest of Secaucus’ athletic royal family, namely the Roesings.

The litany of athletic excellence began with oldest brother Eddie, who is currently a member of coaching staff at Secaucus High School. Then there are sisters Cory and Danielle, both of whom were Hudson Reporter Female Athletes of the Year during their time at Secaucus. There is also older brother Bobby, who was a standout two-sport standout in his own right.

So by the time Sean Roesing came along, he had a ton of expectations to live up to.

Or one might think.

“Not really,” the youngest of the Roesings said. “It only made me work harder. I was always happy when they did well and I looked up to all of them. I hoped that someday I could get the same kind of recognition. My brothers and sisters were always supportive of me. We all help each other out. There was never any rivalry at all.”

Secaucus head football coach and athletic director Charlie Voorhees knew that he would never have a problem with Sean Roesing.

“He’s a Roesing,” Voorhees said. “It’s that simple. You look at the entire family. They were all successful. So when the last guy comes along, you expect the same. If you rolled them all together and got one, it would be Sean. He’s certainly his own man.

Added Voorhees, “I think Sean took it all in as he was growing up. He saw how all of his brothers and sisters handled themselves and decided to do the same. Sean is pretty much a combination of all of their abilities. He’s so tough.”

Voorhees mentioned that Sean Roesing is a bit of an outdoorsman.

“He’s like a mountain man,” Voorhees said. “He loves to hunt and fish. The family owns a home in Pennsylvania and he loves to go there all the time.”

Last Friday night, Voorhees liked the outdoors of New Milford, as the Patriots played a crucial football game against similarly undefeated New Milford.

At halftime, the Patriots trailed, 14-7.

“Most people didn’t think we were going to win,” Voorhees said.

Most people had a right to feel that way. After all, the Patriots were 4-6 last year and were uncharacteristically uncompetitive in some games.

“We had to find out if we had confidence as a team,” Voorhees said. “That’s when Sean took over.”

Roesing has one incredible trait.

“He has tremendous leadership ability,” Voorhees said. “In our program, he’s as good as we’ve had as a leader. That says a lot. He has an effect on every single player in our program.”

Voorhees said that Roesing took the bull by the horns in the preseason.

“We had some younger kids who were goofing around,” Voorhees said. “Those kids weren’t on the right track. I didn’t have to say anything. Sean took care of it.”

“We stopped that from the beginning,” Roesing said. “We all worked hard to have a better year this year. It was my job as a captain to step up and take leadership.”

With the Patriots trailing by a touchdown Friday, Roesing had to take control.

Roesing carried the ball 36 times for 216 yards and scored all three of his team’s touchdowns in a 21-14 victory that pushed the Patriots’ mark to 3-0. Roesing also caught two passes for 35 yards and made 12 tackles from his linebacker slot.

For his efforts, Roesing has been selected as The Hudson Reporter Athlete of the Week for the past week.

“He got about 150 of his 200 yards in the second half,” Voorhees said. “He basically carried the ball for 10 straight minutes of the second half. He killed the clock. He was just an animal. He has a simple phrase that he says all the time. He says, ‘We got this, Coach.’ And I believe him.”

Roesing didn’t want to take credit for the win.

“We all stepped up when we were down,” Roesing said. “I just knew I had to keep getting first downs, but we executed up front. It was a really big game for us and I wanted to get everyone pumped up. Every time I got the ball, I wasn’t going down.”

Roesing said that he had no idea he eclipsed 200 yards in the game.

“I had no clue,” Roesing said. “I just wanted to get the win.”

Voorhees credited Roesing’s clutch performance.

“We’ve had many a good performance over the years,” Voorhees said. “This ranks up there with some of the best performances I’ve ever seen. In terms of offense and defense, Sean literally closed it out. It was just a tremendous game.”

“It was a really big win for us,” Roesing said. “It’s going to give us a lot of power points and that will be big for the rest of the season. No one thought we were going to be good this year. Now, we know we’re good and can only get better. This is only the start. We can get a lot better.”

Roesing is also a standout wrestler during the winter months. Last year, as a junior, he posted a 34-5 record, finishing second in the District 16 and Region 4 tournaments.

“I think playing football makes me ready for wrestling,” Roesing said. “I think the two sports help each other. I wouldn’t mind playing either one in college. This game will help me. It was pretty big.”

Voorhees was ecstatic.

“This was a huge win,” Voorhees said. “We’re going to play a lot of good teams. Sean did a lot of this for us last year, but in a different way.”

Only one difference. The Patriots lost last year. Not now.

“Sean is all business,” Voorhees said. “He just goes to work. His motor just keeps going. And he has a tremendous personality. He’s just a unique kid.”